Gateway Pundit has this picture. I had overlooked the cross on Putin's bare chest. (Guess I didn't look closely enough.) Putin had already openly embraced the Russian Orthodox church.

Putin's, and the Russian government's, relationship to the Russian Orthodox Church have been the subject of various speculations. See

Here , here , and this quote from The Atlantic:

Over the years, Atlantic correspondent Paul Starobin has researched Putin's history and background and spoken both with those who know him personally and with political analysts who have studied his behavior. In "The Accidental Autocrat" (March Atlantic), Starobin portrays Russia's leader as a complex mixture of seemingly incongruous parts. There is Putin the fighter—a man who describes himself as having a "pugilistic nature," and who has long held a black belt in judo. There is Putin the canny former KGB operative—rigorously trained to calculate his every move and to dispense information sparingly. And then there is Putin the believer—a man of faith, who as a child absorbed his mother's strong Orthodox Russian beliefs and continues to practice devoutly.

Putin's faith will not necessarily put him on the road to democracy or friendship with the U.S. Like a good Czar he wants Russia to be a Great Power and is most comfortable with centralized authority. Won't it be ironic if Lenin turns out to have been painting over the Russian mosaic with watercolors, and now it's raining.